University officials explore energy, medical partnerships in Middle East

Janaka Ruwanpura, vice-provost (international), left, and Ed McCauley, vice-president (research), on the University of Calgary-Qatar campus.Two senior leaders are visiting the Middle East this week, exploring new opportunities to extend University of Calgary partnerships in the public and private sectors.

Janaka Ruwanpura, vice-provost (international), and Ed McCauley, vice-president (research), are meeting with energy and medical stakeholders in both Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. “Our purpose was to build up on the success of the University of Calgary-Qatar to expand our opportunities in education, training and research,” said Ruwanpura.

The Middle East is one of six “regions of emphasis” identified under the International Strategy for future development of mutually-beneficial, sustainable initiatives.

In Doha, capital of Qatar, Ruwanpura and McCauley met with Canadian ambassador André Duboisas well as officials from the Qatar National Research Fund and major stakeholders in the energy and medical fields.

In Abu Dhabi and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the Calgary entourage was joined by Kim Critchley, CEO and dean of UCQ. Among the government and business officials they met with were:

Arif Lalani, Canada’s ambassador to the UAE;

His Highness Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, who heads the UAE Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Social Development, is chancellor of two of the UAE's three government-sponsored institutions of higher learning, and who led the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research for two decades;

John Baird, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was in UAE deepening business and diplomatic ties between UAE and Canada.

Objectives of the visits of our team include:

Explore opportunities to offer professional degree or certificate programs related to the energy sector in technology, engineering, business, and project management;

Explore short-term or long-term research collaborations, particularly in the energy and health sectors with public and private partners in Qatar and UAE;

Understand the key strategic directions of the Qatari and Emirati government and business community, and explore mutually beneficial partnerships involving the University of Calgary.